Underground (Levi x Reader)

Banquet (Part I)

The next day went by quickly.

Just like I had promised myself, I did nothing with my time. I stayed in bed until I couldn't put off getting ready for the banquet any longer. When the slanting rays of the sun began to pour through the window in orange and red tones, I knew I had to get ready. Erwin had said we'd be leaving for the inner city at sunset. If I was late, he'd probably have my head.

With a heavy sigh, I rolled out of my bed, leaving my warm blankets behind, and stood, stretching my arms over my head. I winced slightly as the tired, aching muscles protested the movement and then stepped over to the mirror in the corner of the room, running my gaze over my body as I stood there silently for a moment in my underwear. I wasn't too worse for wear from yesterday. There was some bruising around my hips starting to appear from wearing the 3DM harness for such an amount of lengthened time, and there were a few scratches on the skin of my arms and face from travelling through the branches of the forest at high speed, but other than that, I had escaped the whole venture remarkably unscathed.

Stepping away from the mirror, I opened my wardrobe chest that sat at the foot of my bed and began to rummage through the clothing heaped inside, throwing various outfits onto the bed as I muttered under my breath, slightly irritated. "Where in the hell is it?"

Finally, at the very bottom of the chest, my hands came into contact with a silken material, unlike any of the other materials I had passed by in my search through the chest. I let out a triumphant noise as I pulled the outfit out from underneath everything else, holding it up in the light from the window as I looked it over.

Damn. I hadn't seen this in years. I hoped it still fit.

I slipped into the smooth, cool material, pulling it up around my hips and then finally over my shoulders. I reached over my shoulder and did up the row of buttons at the top of the material, before taking in a deep breath and turning to face my reflection in the mirror.

I grinned at myself as I took it all in. I couldn't help it. It'd been a long time since I'd had an excuse to wear anything that made me feel like a proper lady and not a generic killing machine. And whether I would openly admit or not, it felt good.

The dress was a deep red, and it fell to the floor around my feet in gentle ripples of shiny, satin fabric. It was gathered at my waist and tight on my hips, accentuating my curves, which after many years of being a stick, I was finally glad to have. The neckline was low, not uncomfortably so, I was too modest for that, but low enough that a bit of cleavage showed through.

I turned, looking over my shoulder to admire the back of the ensemble in the mirror. The dress was pleated just above my waist, pulling it in slightly to once again show off my small waist, and the back of the dress, unlike the front, was plunging. It dove into a deep v of red fabric that showed my skin down to the middle of my back, and the fabric flawlessly flowed off my shoulders, fluttering down around my elbows.

"Holy hell. I actually look like a woman." I said to myself under my breath, a smile flashing across my lips as I spun, just once, in front of the mirror, the dress flowing around my legs like water as I did so.

Pulling myself away from my reflection, I found the pair of shoes that had been made at the same time as the dress, and slipped my feet into the delicate pair of slippers, adorned with flowers the same shade of red as my dress. I marveled for a quick moment at how much lighter my feet felt in the slippers than they did when I was wearing my thick soled combat boots.

Turning back to the mirror once again, I quickly styled my hair, and when it was to my satisfaction, looked over myself once more.

Perfect. Everything was perfect.